A Figment of Imagination
by Krokedans
Summary: He had thought he was going to die when he had faced Pain, but he didn't expect to find himself alive, in a different world,twenty somewhat years younger. On HOLD
1. Death and Arrival

**AN: The beginning of this chapter contains spoilers and is exactly like the manga I had found on the Internet so you are warned. Also, this is a side story so it won't be updated often XD. 'Turning a New Life' is more important in my opinion.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, the story would be crap and it would've ended a long time ago.**

* * *

_Thoughts_

"_Japanese"_

"English"

* * *

A white haired man struggled to rise and speak to the frog on his shoulder. He merely coughed up blood.

_It's no good… _

_My throats completely caved in…_

_Fuck, fuck!_

_I c-can't…_

_It's no good I 'm passing out…_

_Am I…_

_Dying?_

Everything went dark.

_Have I failed everyone?_

A memory flashed before his closed eyes. A younger version of himself was sitting with an open book in his lap staring at the Hokage Mountain. Three heads were carved into it.

_The true measure of a Shinobi is not how he lives, but how he dies… _

He started to write in the book.

_It's not what they do in life, but what they did before dying that proves their worth_

The memory changed slightly. He was in the same position as before, but he was older. He steadily filled the crisp, white pages of a book with black figures.

_Thinking back on it, my story is one full of failures._

Tsunade punched him in the jaw in anger. He went flying. Once again she rejected him.

_Tsunade turned me down every time._

Orochimaru appeared in his minds eye.

_I couldn't save my friend._

Next came a image of his sensei, Sarutobi, the Sandaime, and his student, Minato, the Yondaime.

_I failed to protect my student…_

_**And **__my teacher…_

The image changed again to the Hokage Mountain, but instead of three heads, there were four.

_Compared with the Hokage who came before me, my accomplishments have all been petty and insignificant…_

Once again he was sitting on the ground and writing his book.

_I wanted to die like them._

His pen froze in mid air.

_I had come to a "conclusion" about how my life would end a long time ago._

_I live believing my shortcomings were just amusing distractions that my failings would build character… and in return… After all those losses and mistakes I would be granted one great, final adventure…_

_And die a death befitting a true Shinobi!_

The memories stopped for a second causing everything to go black.

_I was really passionate about it… heheh…._

_But this…_

_Isn't how I wanted it to turn out…_

A giant, old toad appeared before him. It was sitting on a chair and peering intently at something.

_The Great Sage predicted I would raise a 'revolutionary.' Someone upon whom the fate of the entire Shinobi world would rest… and also that I would have to make a big decision._

Six different forms of pain appeared; their Rin'negan staring at something unseen by himself.

_And when the time came, I decided to defeat Pain, stop Akatsuki, and save the world from ruin…_

_Yet another entry in my long lists of failures…_

_Pathetic…_

_This isn't how the 'Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya' was supposed to end. _

_Writing this story…_

_It's all been a waste of time._

* * *

"_Come on, don't say that."_

In the memory, he looked up, surprised.

A blonde man grinned at him and winked. He held his first book in his hand.

"_I thought it was great! Each chapter really seems like a page out of your own life, sensei. It almost reads like an autobiography."_

He scratched his cheek with a finger. He closed his eyes and said in a resigned voice.

"_Yeah, but… it didn't sell at all. Maybe I should try and sex up the sequel a little… That's my real forte after all."_

He laughed. Minato opened the book up and said.

"_The way the protagonist refused to give up, even at the end… that was really cool. He's just like you, sensei."_

He grinned and looked into his student's blue eyes.

"_Heheh… you think so?"_

Minato interrupted him.

"_Actually, I was thinking…"_

"_Hm?"_

Minato's face scrunched up into a grin.

"_We want to raise our child to be a Shinobi like the one in your book!"_

Minato shut the book and set it on the table. His eye's widened as his student continued,

"_That's why we've decided to name him after the main character in your book. What do you think?"_

He stuttered slightly,

"_A-are you sure about this? It's just a random name I came up with while I was eating some ramen."_

A heavily pregnant lady with red hair entered the room and spoke,

"_Naruto… It's a beautiful name."_

"_Kushina…."_

He started to laugh nervously.

"_Hahaha… Hoo boy… If I name him, that makes me his godfather, right? Are you sure you want that on your heads?"_

Minato gave him a sharp look and said in a serious tone,

"_Absolutely. You're a man with true skill… An example we should all follow. I can't think of a finer Shinobi than you."_

He sat in stunned silence.

* * *

_That's right… _

_I remember now…_

_I named him…._

Images of Naruto sprang into his mind's eye. Him shouting that he was going to be Hokage someday. The best one their was. Him saying that he doesn't go back on his word… that it was his Nindo way.

_Naruto… you really did turn out exactly like the character in the book… Just like your parents… Like Minato and Kushina wanted._

_But I…I…_

……………………

Orochimaru appeared before him saying that a Shinobi's true skill was measured by whether or not he can learn and master all the Jutsu in the world. He replied that a ninja stands firm and endures, no matter what. The Snake Sannin just said it was another difference in opinion. He said _"It doesn't if you know one technique or a million , the most important thing is for a Shinobi to have… the spirit and guts to __**never**__ give up!"_

* * *

_Never go back on your word…_

_And never give up, no matter how bad it gets, that's your Nindo way._

_And I'm supposed to be your teacher…_

_I can't go like this!_

_Because I…._

He struggled to open his eyes. Slowly they did his bidding. He coughed up blood as he struggled to, painfully, get up.

_The student's way should be the master's too!_

_Right, Naruto?_

Pain looked at him with distaste.

"_I was certain his heart had stopped…"_

He glared at him and fell to the ground with a thud. He motioned for the frog on his shoulder to get off him. Pa, the frog, shouted a quick _"right!"_ and got off.

Slowly, and painfully on both their parts, he burned a secret message on the frogs back. The frog formed a seal and shouted,

"_Okay, I got it all!"_

He smiled and let his head fall to the ground.

_Never give up… _

_That was the choice I had to make!_

_Naruto… You're the 'Destined child,' I know it… the rest is up to you!_

Pain growled as one of them realised what he had burned into the toad's back. Suddenly, some unknown force smashed the rock he had been bleeding on. Pa managed to get away… barely. He fell into the water.

He smiled despite the pain coursing through his body. Missing an arm and having five swords sticking out of your back isn't fun. Water gushed over him and the multiple entities known as Pain loomed over the water's edge.

_There… that ending was a little better…_

_The frog at the bottom of the well… Drifts off into the great ocean._

_Heheh…_

_Yep…_

_Pretty Honourable… Pretty darn honourable…_

Slowly he drifted down to the waterbed. His conscious started slipping away again.

_I guess… It's time to put down my pen…_

_Oops… right…_

_I need a title for the next book… Let's see…_

Every thing went dark.

_Ah… Got it…_

"_The Tale of Uzumaki Naruto."_

…_Perfect._

* * *

Foreign voices could be heard when he came to.

_I'm… alive…?_

Someone pulled at his hair and said something unknown to him. Another person, a girl by the sounds of it, said something back. Another person pulled at the summoning scroll attached to his back. The wind blowing was the last thing he heard before he drifted off into the dark bliss he was still unaccustomed to.

When he awoke again and managed to force his eyes open, three children were sitting in the grass trying to read something. Slowly, he tried to get up. Pain still racked through his limbs and back causing him to groan. The three children jumped and hastily said something to each other. One of them, a boy with green eyes and black hair, nervously helped him to his feet.

It was then that he realised be had _both_ of his arms.

_Didn't I lose one of them…?_

The wrinkles he had grown accustomed to seeing had disappeared as well.

_How can that be…?_

The boy stepped back from him, leaving him standing, unstable. One of the boy's companions, the one with red hair, looked at him suspiciously and shouted something. A thirteen-year-old girl with bushy hair whacked said boy on the head with the back of her hand. She seemed to tell him off. The boy snorted and his cheeks went as red as his flaming hair. Jiraiya, still in his confused state, tried to stop himself from smiling slightly at the sight. They reminded him of the Genin team he had taught. He looked around. Wherever he was, it was beautiful.

_Where am I?_

A large, old castle loomed over the four of them; the dimming light reflecting off it's stonewalls. A lake was not far away, shimmering with something magical. The kid that had helped him up vehemently shook his head at something the freckled boy had said. The girl stared intently at him before trying to speak to him. He responded by looking confused. Frowning, the girl pointed at herself and said slowly,

"Hermione Granger."

He tied his best at repeating, what he assumed, to be her name. He failed miserably. The girl, Hermione, laughed at him and the other two kids looked up from their argument and sent him suspicious glares. He narrowed his eyes at them when he saw his summoning scroll, opened, and lying carelessly at their dirty feet. A growl erupted from his throat as he moved forward to take his property back. The world went fuzzy and he stumbled. Just before he lost consciousness for the third time, he felt the temperature drop a few degrees. The students made panicked sounds.

_What in the world…?_

He fell to the floor; his long, snow-white hair sprawled about him.

* * *

**AN: Well, what do you think. The first part of this chapter is from Naruto: Shippuuden… I forget which chapter… I think it was 382 or something XD.**


	2. Reactions

**AN: Yay! Two reviews! To the anonymous reviewer: Yes the title holds a lot of meaning, but you won't find exactly why yet until near the end XD**

**Edit: I just fixed a line where Jiraiya suddenly understands English. Hahaha. Sorry about that.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter (as I forgot to say in the last chapter)**

* * *

The smell of disease and illness assaulted his nose as he slowly entered the realm of consciousness. Slowly, his dark eyes opened to see white curtains closed around him. The pain and dizziness from yesterday had disappeared, leaving him feeling refreshed and energetic. Instead of his usual attire, he was dressed in some kind of white robe. His hair was out of its ponytail and hung loose in front of his eyes.

Somebody clicked his or her tongue as the owner of a young, male voice complained about something in their foreign language.

_What was a 'Slytherin' or 'purple' for that matter?_

Sitting up, the Toad Sannin found himself pondering on where he was. Judging by the only stonewall that he could see, he was in some sort of castle. The curtains moved slightly, as an unknown person walked by. Jiraiya smoothed out the white, linen sheets of himself and looked at his two hands. How did he still have both of them? Why did he look younger… and_ FEEL _younger…? How come he wasn't dead? Deciding to figure this out later, he looked at the small table beside his bed. His headband and folded clothes rested on top of it.

His summoning scroll was nowhere in sight.

Narrowed eyes glared at the nightstand for a moment before the curtain was whipped open. The culprit let out a small "eep" of surprise. He turned to look at the older lady. A small smile formed on the lady's face as she said,

"I see that you're awake Mr…?"

He studied the lady silently for a minute. What did she just say? The words made no sense. The woman waited expectantly. Quickly he made a sign to show that he didn't comprehend what she had said. She gave no sign that she understood. He sighed and brushed his insanely long locks behind his shoulder. This drew her attention and her face crinkled into a frown directed at his hair. It seemed the brown-eyed lady disapproved of his looks. He muttered to himself under his breath about old ladies and their strange views.

The medic raised a greying eyebrow at the use of a foreign language. He just looked at her with a amused expression. Somebody moaned and the lady jumped and glared at him to stay put before shutting the curtains again and heading to the boy.

Jiraiya sighed and, quickly, before the woman came back, changed into his usual garb. He scowled as he realized there was a hole in the sleeve. Pulling his hair back into its usual ponytail and pulling on his red sandals that were on the floor beside the bed, he waited for the medic to come back. After what seemed like an hour, Jiraiya got bored and lied back down on the bed; his thoughts drifting off to Konoha and Tsunade. How was she dealing with his 'death'? How was Naruto for that matter? Or Kakashi? Seeing as he wouldn't be in Konoha, as he didn't know how to get there from wherever he was, to write Kakashi's precious books.

Once again the curtains were whipped open and the sunlight blinded him for a few seconds. When he regained his vision he saw that, instead of just the lady from before, a old man with twinkling blue eyes and rather eccentric clothes and a pale man clad in dark clothing were standing next to her. The darker man with lank, greasy hair sneered at him as he looked at him with interest. The older man said something to him and the dark haired man just sneered right back at the old man. Jiraiya sat up again and waited patiently for them to do something.

Albus, feeling unusually wary, looked at the white haired, young man with the red lines running down each of his cheeks. He was a foreigner that was for sure, but from where? He had no clue. The foreigner had reacted quite badly when the dementors guarding the school floated closes by. He had reacted worse than Harry, which was saying something. Harry had remained unconscious for a few hours, but this man… he was out for a good, two days. What could possibly cause that? The young man looked right back at him with a gaze that made him feel as if the man was older than he seemed, a lot older.

Jiraiya stared at the man as he leaned forward rested his head against his hand. It felt odd to have two arms. The old man pulled out a small scroll that looked eerily similar to his scroll. Not long after the man set the scroll on the foot of the bed, he pulled out a long, slender stick out of an inside pocket of his yellow and green robes.

_What's with the stick?_

_It's got some sort of chakra…_

_I can feel it…_

He stiffened as the strange 'stick' was pointed at the scroll. After some muttered words, a jolt of light shot out of the black stick and hit the scroll. Jiraiya jumped out of the bed, his sandals hit the tiled floor with a 'clack' and he got into a defensive position. Snape looked up with interest, thinking that the man was a muggle and needed to be obliviated. Well, that was until the man started to do strange hand signs in rapid succession.

_"Katon: Endan! (Fire release: Fireball)"_

Flames erupted from Jiraiya's mouth. The three peoples' eyes widened in union and each of them erected a shield. The flames dissipated on contact with the invisible magic. The bed was charred badly, and the Sannin was panting slightly at the lack of air. He looked at them at the, miraculously, unharmed scroll on the bed.

_Is it just me… or is that scroll larger and…_

_That is MY scroll!_

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously at the stunned faces staring at him and quickly snatched his scroll away from them. The people, except for the old man, whipped out similar looking sticks and pointed them at him. He laughed nervously, knowing there was no way out of this one.

_Why did I have to react like that?_

_I'm screwed._

* * *

**AN: I know it's short… and a filler chapter… but it was okay, right?**


	3. What the Hell Are Those?

**AN: I'm ALIVE!! Sorry for not updating any of my stories, but life had been really busy for me. Also, I had to write this chapter three times before I was satisfied with it. I hope you'll enjoy it. R&R!**

* * *

A tense silence fell over the room as one of the men, the greasy one, pushed his stick into his throat

A tense silence fell over the room as one of the men, the greasy one, pushed his stick into his throat. Why did he always act before thinking? He took a step backwards causing the owner of the tick to sneer at him and come closer. Strangely, the old man with twinkling blue eyes just watched him with interest, almost as if he were examining his mind –his memories.

_But, that's not possible is it?_

Seeing something in him, the man called off the other two people who, Jiraiya would later learn, were Severus Snape and Remus Lupin. The tired looking man, who had come in only moments before Jiraiya initiated his jutsu, lowered his wand as Snape pressed his wand against Jiraiya's neck for the last time before following suite. Jiraiya warily rubbed his throat as he watched Snape. Cold, black eyes stared back at him.

After a few moments of the three men muttering, arguing was more like it, the nurse from before came back holding a vile with something bluish inside. There was more talking and the Toad Sannin could only guess what they were saying. The light pouring from the window still hurt his eyes and the stench of disinfectant was twice as strong now, Kakashi would probably kill to get out of the room if he were here. His student's student never liked hospitals, especially since his sense of smell was way above average. Come to think of it, Minato didn't like hospitals very much either. He sighed sombrely as his thoughts went to his student. He died so young…

The old man suddenly nodded and pointed his slender wand at him before saying something. A white light shot of the tip of the stick and, before he could dodge it, hit him in the chest. Once more silence reigned in the room with the exception of the kid from before moaning.

"Did it work, Headmaster?"

Startled that he understood what the nurse had just said, Jiraiya's dark orbs widened.

"What did you do to me?"

His voice was thick with the accent native to his homeland and, though he understood what he just said, the words were unfamiliar to tongue. Sneering, greasy bat answered.

"Dumbledore here, against all better judgment, unfortunately allowed you to be able to understand and _speak _English. Now, explain what you are doing here."

Suddenly feeling uncomfortable and almost reverting back to his perverted ways, as it was, in a way, a kind of mask he always hid behind to show how he truly felt, he fingered the hole in his clothing.

_How am I going to explain this?_

Before he could answer, whom he assumed was Dumbledore interrupted them. Snape shot the man a glare that could have killed while Jiraiya gave a relieved look.

"Severus, my boy, we need to introduce ourselves first! After all, he is our guest and we are to be polite to him."

Pulling out a tin from his robes and opening it, the elderly person continued.

"Lemon drop?"

He shook the tin and the yellow coloured sweets rattled inside. Jiraiya stared at the candy with curiosity and mistrust.

_What the hell are those?_

Deciding they weren't safe to eat, he replied in a guarded tone.

"No thanks."

Dumbledore merely brought the tin closer to him and popped one of the lemon-flavoured treats into his mouth before stuffing the container in the depths of his robes. The blue liquid in the vile the nurse had been holding had disappeared as Jiraiya found himself noticing. He examined the woman and found the colour of her eyes distracting however, the lady definitely wasn't his type.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Severus, you're next."

_Wizards? Witches? They don't exist, do they?_

Just short of a growl, the dark man reluctantly complied, albeit rather nastily.

"Professor Severus Snape. I hope you aren't a dunderhead like the rest of the people I have to put up with, but, with the way your dressed I wouldn't be surprised if you were one."

Jiraiya scowled at the git and folded his arms across his chest. Shooting Snape a look, Albus apologized for the man and nudged the sick looking man to go next. The teacher gave him a warm smile and held his hand to shake. Jiraiya could only stare and wonder what he was supposed to be doing before he hesitantly brought his own hand up and clasped the other's.

"Remus Lupin, DADA teacher of Hogwarts."

Giving him a smile, the other man stopped shaking his hand and let go. Poppy was the last to introduce herself and told him that in a few days he should be in tip top shape before she bustled around the room. Before he told them just who exactly he was, he got them to explain what a wizard and witch was along with just what their magic was exactly. Afterwards, the Sannin uncertainly introduced himself to the wizards while bowing slightly, as was the custom and hastily told them that he had no clue how he got here. He gave no facts other than his name, he could summon toads, and that he was a Shinobi from a village called Konoha.

"Let me get this straight, you're a Shinobi from Konoha who should be dead but ended up here instead?"

"Hai."

Grinning, much to Snape's horror at his stupidity, Dumbledore asked whether or not he would like to stay at Hogwarts as a seventh year or guard. Jiraiya frowned. Much to his despair and horror, he realised what the Headmaster was implying. He was, as much as he didn't want to admit it, fifty, NOT seventeen, but maybe if everyone thought he was seventeen... His thoughts quickly derailed and headed into more perverted areas.

"Jiraiya…? Jiraiya…? Jiraiya, are you all right? Maybe I should get Poppy…"

Snapping out of his thought, he blushed and rubbed the back of his head nervously. Luckily, he managed to keep a rather questionable grin from forming on is face. He couldn't help, but to wonder though, why were the strange people called 'wizards' trusting him so readily? What were they planning? Sometime when he was unconscious or during the time when he didn't understand their language, they must've been doing something along those lines. Snape, however, wasn't like the other three. Could he trust the rude and unpleasant man?

"Sorry, I got side tracked in my thoughts."

Dumbledore adjusted his glasses and beamed at him causing Severus to look grumpier by the minute. Lupin watched the white haired ninja with interest; something about the man gave him the impression that he was a man not to be trifled with. The Shinobi had one of his hands resting on the large scroll with what seemed to be Japanese writing and the other hand seemed to be hovering over a pouch sitting on the nightstand. By all appearances the man look as relaxed as anyone could be, but something told him he wasn't. Snape seemed to be the only other person who noticed this as well. His sharp, calculating eyes were watching Jiraiya's every move, trying to decipher the man's true intentions and whether he was a spy. Something told the ex-Death Eater that Voldemort wasn't going to be 'dead' for much longer.

Jiraiya was studying the wizards just as they were, him. Snape, if he weren't a wizard, could've been an excellent Shinobi if he wanted to, just by his stance and wary nature alone. Dumbledore he wasn't so sure about. He had a powerful aura and something about his presence made you feel he was trustworthy –and he probably was- but, Jiraiya with a Shinobi's untrusting nature, couldn't quite bring himself to believe it. Lupin wouldn't have done well as a Shinobi at all. Already in the short time Jiraiya had been awake, he could read the man's face easily. He was an open book. Something, in the back of his mind, told him that there was more than what meet's the eye with this man.

"Hmmm… will my type of 'magic' work with yours?"

Dumbledore paused for a moment, thinking. Running a hand through his beard and adjusting his slipping glasses, he spoke,

"It should, I see no reason it shouldn't."

Jiraiya scrutinized the Headmaster's face for any sign of lying before turning his gaze to Snape as he figured the snarky man would tell the truth. Snape merely glared at him, his dark eyes narrowing with evident dislike, and gave a small nod that only a trained eye would've caught.

"What would I possibly teach Dumbledore-san? I'm no _wizard_."


End file.
